Breaking Waves 2018 – Representatives of the global maritime cluster, from shipowners to startups, to gather in Helsinki

5. September 2018

Key actors in the global maritime industry will gather for the first time in Helsinki on 3.-4. December 2018. Breaking Waves 2018 is bringing together representatives of the European maritime cluster with the aim of ensuring Europe’s competitiveness in the global markets. Breaking Waves 2018 is part of the world’s leading startup event Slush.

Breaking Waves 2018 will take place over two days with the aim of stimulating active dialogue within the industry, as well as introducing new ideas from outside the industry. The ultimate goal is to make shipping more responsible and cost effective, as well as to improve safety and process efficiency.

A Think Tank forum for invited guests will be held on Monday 3 December, at which leading industry representatives will formulate a joint statement on the future challenges and targets of the European maritime cluster. The forum will include representatives of ports and shipowners, decision-makers from the European Commission, and representatives of pioneering companies such as Wärtsilä, ABB and Rolls Royce.

The joint statement will be presented at the main conference, which will take place on Tuesday 4 December. In addition, solutions will be sought through startup accelerators and various case studies. Key figures within the maritime industry, among them Wärtsilä President & CEO Jaakko Eskola, Magda Kopczynska of DG Move, Karin Orsel from MF Shipping, Hamburg Port Aughority CEO Jens Meier, ESPO Secretary General Isabelle Ryckbost and Danish Shipping CEO Anne H. Steffensen, will present their own views regarding the future of the European maritime cluster. The keynote speech will be delivered by Alexander Stubb, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, who will discuss the competitiveness of Europe in a changing world.

Helsinki plays a key role in bringing together the important actors in the European maritime industry

The international maritime industry and shipping are experiencing a period of profound change. Stricter environmental legislation, the disruption of service chains, automation and digitalisation are transforming shipping in an unprecedented way. These changes demand closer collaboration within Europe to ensure the region’s competitiveness also in the future. Helsinki is inviting key actors in the global maritime industry to gather together for the first time with the aim of finding solutions to the challenges of the future.

Breaking Waves 2018 is a new kind of forum that is aimed at international maritime professionals, from shipbuilders and technology suppliers to shipowners, ports and decision-makers. Finland is setting an example in the maritime industry; the Port of Helsinki is the busiest passenger port in Europe, and the Finnish maritime cluster is an internationally recognised leader in maritime technology. As the nation’s capital, Helsinki is playing a key role in bringing together key actors in the maritime industry.

“The success stories of the Finnish maritime cluster spring from diversity and effective synergies. We have both passenger and freight carriers, specialised shipping companies, and a maritime industry that ranges from shipyards to startups, as well as ports and port operators. Digitalisation, Arctic expertise and environmental innovations are among our biggest strengths, and these are exactly the areas that are transforming the industry right now. Breaking Waves 2018 will promote broader dialogue between different actors and increased collaboration, which in turn will help stimulate continued competitiveness,” says Tiina Tuurnala, Managing Director of the Finnish Shipowners’ Association.

Finland has a long history as a pioneering country in IT and is home to a strong team of experts in digitalisation. The Finnish maritime cluster too has developed its industry-leading activities over many years. Its unique culture of experimentation has found effective ways of searching for new solutions for low-emissions shipping and maritime automation.

“Finland is especially strong in terms of the exceptionally open collaboration among various actors in the industry, which fosters innovative experiments such as the One Sea innovation ecosystem, which promotes autonomous shipping, the remote piloting experiment that is currently under preparation, and the smart shipping lane project, which is based on new ways of utilising data and the exchange of information. These experiments are exceptional, even on a global level,” Tuurnala says.

The open environment of the Finnish maritime cluster is also a means of utilising expertise in other fields of IT and technology that can be co-developed. Similarly, the latest maritime innovations can also be applied to other business sectors with far-reaching implications. As part Slush, the world’s leading startup event, Breaking Waves 2018 will help promote these innovative practices and utilise the resulting ideas more broadly within the European maritime cluster. This in turn will significantly strengthen the competitiveness of both Finland and Europe as a whole.